Q-Vangelion
by jcmoorehead
Summary: With three functioning Evangelion Units the future of humanity seems secure and Gendo Ikari can proceed with his version of the scenario laid out by SEELE. Until a strange man named Q appears to try to persuade him otherwise.
1. Encounter At Tokyo-3

I originally wrote this, or at least a variation of it back in 2007. It was based on a discussion thread on an Evangelion Message Board I was a part of in which we'd give ourselves daft challenges to write in an hour. This was sparked by a discussion of who would win in a battle between NERV and the Borg from Star Trek. So we had a bit of a debate and someone asked me to write it, I of course needed a way to bring the Borg into the world of Eva and what better way than using Q?

I was admittedly never completely happy with it and I've been wanting to rewrite it for quite some time. Obviously with it being done in an hour I didn't get a chance to expand on things as much as I'd have liked to. I didn't get the chance to do proper research on certain elements. So I've decided to rewrite it, add more to it as well as a little bit of fluff.

* * *

Gendo stared forward from behind his desk. A stack of reports lay to his right, he didn't need to read them. Fuyutsuki could deal with that little inconvenience. There were more pressing matters at hand, his meeting with the committee would be happening soon and they would be pressing him on the recent Angel attack.

An Angel that had managed to infiltrate the NERV complex, it was not like the others. It was miniscule, a collection of highly adaptable micro-organisms. It was the first Angel that could not be defeated by the Eva's instead having to rely on Ritsuko developing a program that would lead the Angel into believing killing itself was the best course of action for evolution.

The important thing was that they had defeated it, it had not been easy and it had been risky but defeating them was the priority and it was expected that as time went on the Angels might adopt different tactics than strolling into the city and waiting to be destroyed.

"So what will you tell the old men?"

"I will tell them exactly what they want to hear, and what we need to tell them. I will inform them that the rumours of the Angel invasion of our headquarters are just that, rumours. I will tell them that we are on track for the Human Instrumentality Project and that there is no cause for concern."

"You do not think they suspect our true motives, or that we have Adam?"

"It matters not what they suspect or what they question. They are unable to do anything against us, they need NERV and they know it. All they can do is level empty threats at us."

"I'm not so sure, I think it would be wise to exercise some caution. These are powerful men."

"True but we have power of our own, we have the Evangelion Units, we have Lilith, Adam and soon we will have the Lance. SEELE will not dare to interfere but at the same time we will not give them reason to want to interfere, leave the old men to me. The power of God is within our reach Fuyutsuki, don't worry about it."

"As you wish."

* * *

Asuka threw herself down on the couch in the front room and lay back sighing in the darkness. She hated the darkness like this, the image outside of the window of no lighting, the lack of light even from the smallest source. Another test for the city of Tokyo-3 to undergo, it wouldn't be so bad if there were people here but of course Shinji had got himself hurt during the cross-compatibility test and Misato was of course looking after him.

She forced the thought from her mind and mentally kicked herself for being so stupid, she didn't need them here. She was staying here because it was convenient for her, if she could she would be living on her own. She especially didn't need to see Shinji, the useless idiot only ever got in her way.

Yet deep inside her she was a little bit concerned for him. She might have thought he was spineless, wimpy and not worth her time but she didn't want to see him get hurt.

'Idiot, why does he always have to do stuff like this?'

She again forced that thought from her mind, she didn't need to burden herself with being concerned for him. What she was concerned about was that she would once again have to go without lunch the next day because he wouldn't be there to make it for her. That she would once again have to face the dumb questions from his friends of 'Where's Shinji?'

'Everyone is always so concerned for poor Shinji. Every day it is Shinji, Shinji, Shinji, everyone just coddles him. If he needs that much support why is he even an Eva pilot? I can easily handle that on my own, I don't need the likes of him holding me back!'

Then of course there was Rei, the other pilot. Wondergirl, the commanders favourite. It was her Eva that Shinji had had the accident in. Asuka remembers the scene vividly, watching as the Unit suddenly went out of control. Forcing itself out of its restraints and aiming a fierce punch directly towards the observation deck, directly at…

'The First Child… Rei Ayanami… just who the hell is the First Child anyway?'

* * *

Gendo returned to his office after the meeting just in time to receive confirmation that Rei had retrieved the Lance of Longinus and placed it through the chest of the Angel buried in Terminal Dogma. Everything was going to plan.

"Rei has retrieved the lance, it is where we ordered it to be. How was your meeting with the committee?"

"As expected they asked for clarification on the rumours of an Angel invading NERV Headquarters. I was able to convince them that it was just that, a rumour. They have however requested more frequent meetings."

"Between the events of the last few days, their lance going missing, they must be getting quite anxious. Ikari are you sure of what we're doing, that it is achievable?"

Gendo smirked behind his glasses, "As I've said before SEELE are a minor inconvenience. We hold all the cards, as long as we stay the course there is little that can stop us. Soon we will have the dummy plug system online which wil-"

Gendo stopped himself from speaking as he looked up at his second in command. There were few things that could leave the man speechless but the image of Fuyusuki in a sombrero was certainly one of them.

'Was he wearing that when I came in?'

"Fuyutsuki take that ridiculous hat off!"

Fuyutsuki eyed him curiously wondering what he was talking about. Looking up he saw it, the rounded edges. That was strange, he didn't remember putting a hat on and certainly not a sombrero.

"Sorry sir. I… don't remember... putting it on…"

His voice trailed off as something caught his eye in the corner of the room. He was a plant, a cactus to be exact and he didn't remember it being there previously.

"When did you get a new plant?"

"I didn't get…"

Gendo now saw it, the five foot cactus in the corner of the room. Was that there when he had come in? Was someone playing a joke on him?

"Fuyutsuki what is going on here? Get Section 2 in here immediately."

"Yes sir."

Fuyutsuki made his way over to the door and tried to pull it open only to find it locked.

"Ikari the door is locked."

"Then unlock it, we have little time for these distractions."

"I can't, it won't unlock!"

Gendo sighed and tapped the button on his intercom, all he received back was static. Something very strange was going on indeed, it seemed they were completely cut off.

"I'm afraid Commander that that won't help. You aren't in NERV anymore."

Both Gendo and Fuyutsuki turned to see this new voice belonged to a man unknown to them. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, had short brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing the standard NERV Uniform but neither of them had ever seen him before. Nor did they know how he had gotten in here and both could swear that he wasn't there when they had arrived.

Gendo was the first to speak up, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My apologies for the sudden intrusion, where are my manners. I am here with an offer of assistance. As for who I am, I am known throughout time and space under many names… some of them not very pleasant I'll admit but in the interest of keeping things simple you can call me… Q"

* * *

"I'm home!"

His voice echoed through the empty corridor and received no reply. In the shoe rack he could see Asuka's shoes kicked to one side, she was never one for replying to the greeting. She was probably still mad that she had been sent home. Shinji of course felt bad about it, it wasn't his fault but he had heard about it shortly after he had woken up in that hospital bed.

He quietly made his way into the front room, it was dark. Half eight at night and the sun had already set, he turned the light on. Asuka had been in here but the room had been undisturbed making his way into the kitchen he saw no signs of disturbance here either.

'No takeaway boxes, no dishes… she come back but hasn't eaten yet. Is she okay?'

He shot a glance to her closed door and contemplated knocking on it for a moment to see if she was alright. She would probably just yell at him if he did that for no reason, instead he listened carefully. There were a few sounds of shuffling about from within and he was sure he could hear music playing. She was in, was she in that much of a bad mood she had just locked herself in her room without getting any food first?

'I guess… I'll cook us both something.'

He checked the fridge for anything he could make quickly and settled on a simple omelette. It was getting late and he was too tired to prepare anything big or that'd take too long. Within a few minutes he had grated some cheese, chopped up the ham he had gotten from the fridge and cracked a few eggs into a frying pan. He added a few extras to give it a little bit of flavour and waited for it to be complete.

The kitchen was one of the few places he felt comfortable. He had always known how to cook but it was only when he had started to live with Misato that he had started to really embrace it. At first it was out of necessity, it was cook for himself or face Misato's food which he struggled to call food. So time had passed and he realized he actually enjoyed the act of cooking, it gave him a purpose outside of piloting the Eva. He loved hearing Asuka and Misato compliment his food, especially Asuka. He always knew outside of everyone she would be the one to be honest with him, so her compliments meant the most. Since coming into his life he had found himself drawn to the fiery German redhead.

It was strange. The others Touji and Kensuke would often complain about her. About how obnoxious and bossy she could be yet Shinji found himself attracted to her. Maybe it was because out of all of them she wasn't afraid to be honest with him, maybe it was because he felt they were similar in many ways or maybe it was because he found her so beautiful he could barely describe it.

With a smile on his face he slid the omelette onto the plate and prepared to deliver it to her.

* * *

"Q?"

"Yes, it's a simple enough name. Please don't tell me I have to repeat it."

Gendo finally rose from his desk and walked over to the door himself. He gave it a sharp pull only for it to not open. It was just as Fyutsuki had said moments before. The door had somehow locked, yet Gendo had not been the one to lock it. He took the key out of his pocket and inserted it into the hole, turning he heard the click and tried to open the door. Once again he was met with resistance. He could feel himself starting to get angry.

"What is this? Some sort of trick?"

"I assure you it is no trick, but let me assure you even if that door were to open you won't find anything out there."

"Open it!"

"As you wish, my dear Commander."

The man known as Q snapped his fingers and the door finally opened. Gendo went to take a step outside of his office but stopped when he suddenly realized he was about to step into nothing. Literally nothing, complete darkness as far as the eye could see. He quickly stepped back and closed the door, locking it and turned to the man who simply held up his hands.

"As I said, you won't find anything out there."

Gendo narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and fixed his gaze upon the man calling himself Q. He was beginning to get a sense that there was something very wrong here. There was much more to this man then he first suspected. This was no ordinary intruder.

"Who are you? Beyond your name I mean."

Q smiled, "I am a mere passing stranger with an interest in your species. You see I was just passing through Wolf 359 and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. The power of God. So I thought I couldn't pass up this opportunity, to witness humans attempting to reach Godhood, the next stage in their evolution. I thought here… here is a variation of humanity who could really benefit from the guidance of a Q."

"Guidance?"

"Well yes, of course. What better person to get guidance from then a representative of a civilization who have already ascended past that threshold."

Gendo smiled, "We do not require your guidance."

Q's rounded Gendo's desk. "No you're right, I already looked into it. Using tools of the 'First Ancestral Race' as you called them, boring, kids' stuff really. Adam, Lillith, death and rebirth. You know I knew the First Ancestral Race before they all decided to disappear, strange story really I can-

"You can leave, you can return us from wherever this place is. I am a busy man and we do not have time for distractions.

Q lowered his head down to meet Gendo's stare. The smile on his face had gone, only to be replaced by a menacing glare. "No of course not, nothing must deviate from your scenario must it Ikari? Tell me before I go, do you believe those words that are spoken in those meetings of yours? That humanity has reached its peak? From where I'm sitting you're still primitive."

Gendo did not reply, Q continued.

"There is more out there Ikari, would you deny your race an opportunity to grow? To reach what? Some misguided idea of Godhood? No, there is so much more out there and you're only at the start of it."

"What do you want?"

"I want nothing, I have an 'interest' in humanity you could say and I owe it to a friend of mine to ensure at least one branch of your primitive species doesn't prematurely end themselves."

"We do not require your help."

"No you don't but tell me are you not curious about what is out there? The origin of those beings you call Adam and Lillith? The Galaxy itself? Are you not curious at all? Are you willing to throw it all away?"

"We are throwing nothing away, humanity will ascend to the realm of God in the form of the Eva."

"And what about the things out there that take exception to your ascension? How do you know they won't just destroy your previous 'Eva'?"

"Eva is the power of God, it will not be destroyed so simply. Even now there is nothing that can stop us."

"Really? Well Gendo, it seems you and the rest of NERV do not require my guidance but let me explain one thing. You will receive it regardless. I owe a friend a favour and I hate being in someone's debt. Goodbye Ikari."

With a snap of his fingers the man known as Q vanished from the room leaving Gendo and Fuyutsuki looking at each other in astonishment.

"Fuyutsuki, get Captain Katsuragi and Dr Akagi here immediately. Find out what that thing was and prepare to lock down Tokyo-3."

* * *

Holding the plate in one of his hands he gently tapped against Asuka's door.

"Um… Asuka, I… I don't know if you've eaten yet but I made you something to eat. I… If you want it that is."

There was a click as whatever music she had on was turned off, a brief shuffling and eventually her door slid open. Shinji nervously took one step back and held the plate up for her.

"Well look who is back, I thought you would have been enjoying the company of Wondergirl and Misato at the hospital after your 'incident.'"

"I... "

Shinji paused for a moment wondering if he should tell Asuka the truth about why he wasn't still in the hospital right now.

"I... kinda snuck out and discharged myself. I didn't want to be there... so I came home."

Asuka stared at him both shocked and surprised and if she admitted it even a little bit of concern.

'Idiot discharged himself, what an irresponsible little br...'

Her eyes wandered down to the plate Shinji was holding out for her. Her stomach growled in response to seeing the omelette. She took it from him and stepped out of the room.

'He even cooked for me... suppose the least I could do is take it and eat with him.'

"Well I have to admit I'm impressed. The Third is finally growing something of a backbone but aren't you worried about what Misato will say."

"A little bit I guess but... I couldn't stay in there."

Asuka gazed at the boy for a moment, he was pale. There was an urge within her to force him to go back but she wasn't going to interfere with his choice. She probably would have done the same. She did however decide it'd be a good idea to get him off of his feet. She gestured towards the table.

"Well are we going to eat then?"

He nodded with a smile, "Yeah."

The two of them ate mostly in silence. It wasn't an awkward or an uncomfortable silence like he might have had with Rei or Misato or even his own friends it felt comfortable. He was however trying his hardest to not keep looking at Asuka for any sort of response as she ate. Trying to figure out if she liked it or not.

"Is there a reason you keep on looking at me Shinji? I'd rather you not have one of your little perverted fantasies while I'm eating."

"No I-I-I was just... wondering if you liked it, that's all..."

'Hmph... Idiot, he could have just asked.'

Finishing the final bit of it, "Yes, it was very good. It seems that you might have some uses after all. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to..."

She stopped herself as she noticed Shinji's plate was only half finished. She hadn't eaten that quickly so he shouldn't be that far behind her. They hadn't spoke during the meal and aside from glancing up at her every so often there was nothing that should really have distracted him. She noticed again the paleness of his face. For a moment she forgot about making any snappy comments or her own concerns.

'Is that idiot alright? Should he even be here right now?'

"Hey Third... are you alright? Just..."

She stopped herself from what she was about to say. She couldn't let him know she was concerned.

"Just... I don't want you being ill and dragging me down if an Angel attacks. I can't be expected to carry you all the time you know."

"I... I'm fine, just a little bit tired that's all."

Tired was probably an understatement. He had walked back from the hospital after his ordeal and he had barely slept the night before due to worry about the tests today. He felt like he was going to pass out at any moment and his head was hurting.

"How did you get back from the hospital?"

"Oh... I err.. Walked."

"You walked from the Geofront to here? Are you stupid? Are you that irresponsible? What if an Angel attacks tomorrow you're not going to be able to fight... Not that I need your help of course but aren't you concerned about Misato or…"

"I don't care... I didn't want to be there, I hate it there and I wanted to be here..."

'...with you...'

Asuka nodded glaring at him. She had half a mind to applaud him for his decision and another to berate him for being so stupid. She wondered what she should do. The more she looked at him the more ill he seemed to look to her. Maybe she should take him back.

Yet there was a part of her deep down for which the words 'I hate it there' resonated. There was a flash of a memory. She understood that statement so much, she couldn't send him back. No she would deal with the consequences tomorrow if there were any.

"Well I'm going to do you a favour and take note because I don't do things like this often. When you're finished you are going to leave the plates and I am going to stoop down to your level and wash them. Then you're going to bed, we can't have the invincible Shinji being ill and dragging the rest of us down."

"Yes... thank you."

With that Asuka returned to her room closing the sliding door behind her. She left it open just a little bit so she could keep an eye on him. Just in case he needed her.

* * *

Shinji finished the rest of what was on his plate and stood up. He looked towards the sink and lifted his plate only to remember what Asuka had told him. He looked towards her room, the door was open a slight amount. For a moment he thought he could see her figure peering through at him but when he blinked it was gone. She had been right, he really didn't feel well at all. Maybe he had been stupid to discharge himself from the hospital but he couldn't face a night there on his own. With a yawn he walked to his small room and pulled the door aside.

He closed the door behind him and turned his eyes widening at the sight of the man sitting on his bed.

"Well… Shinji Ikari I presume."

Shinji took a step back resisting the urge to scream out.

"I admit I could have chosen a better time to greet you, my name is Q."

"Q?"

"Like father, like son… why is it so difficult to grasp, it's one letter. Even that idiot Worf understood it quicker than this."

Shinji felt his heart beat faster in his chest, who exactly was this man and how did he get in here?

"My… father?"

"Yes, not calm down I'm not here to hurt you… in fact quite the opposite. I'm here to help you or should I say I'm here to ask for your help with something."

Shinji wanted to scream out for help, the rip the door open and run away but the tiredness and the aching in his body had set in. All he could do was stand there and hope this was some strange hallucination.

The man calling himself Q snapped his fingers. In an instant Shinji found himself sitting on his bed, Q was sitting in the other corner of the room on a large leather armchair. Q found himself studying the boy, in fact he had been studying him all day before his meeting with the older Ikari. He had found him to be a most interesting individual. By human standards he came across as fairly unremarkable, he didn't excel in any sporting or academic situation. He seemed quite nervous and shy around people but there was potential there for great things. He had studied the past, present and future of Shinji and he knew what was in store.

Q had always found humans to be remarkable little creatures. He had out of all of the species he had encountered been fascinated by them the most. There was an untapped potential within them for great things, maybe even one day to reach the realm of the Continuum. Such things were not for him to know, what he did know however was that sometimes they needed a gentle nudge in the right direction. He had done it before, and he was ready to do it again. In this case there was something else at stake, he had seen what lay ahead for the humans of this timeline and he didn't like it. They were meddling with forces that should be left alone.

He looked over at Shinji and realized the kid was probably terrified at this moment in time. Q had of course expected this to happen. The humans of this world were not like the others he was used to. These had not tasted the fruits of what was out there, they could barely comprehend the idea of an omnipotent being. There was also the age of this particular human. When interacting with humans and species Q had a few self-imposed rules. One was to not interact with children and animals the other was a much more serious one.

He gave a mischievous smile as he realized that he was about to break both of his self-imposed rules.

Shinji had not blinked or moved a muscle since being swapped to the bed. He was hoping this was some bizarre hallucination that he was just lying in bed having some sort of fever dream and eventually he'd wake up all sweaty. Yet something in his mind told him this was very real.

Q finally spoke again, "I appreciate that this seems very sudden for you but I come to you with a request. I need your help."

"You… need my help… but you just…"

"Oh the chair and bed thing? That's easy. I do it all the time, party tricks to be honest with you. You should have seen it when I swapped two systems planets. I'll tell you they didn't know what day it was on that planet's surface anymore… probably because…"

He stopped when he saw Shinjis eyes growing wider, "Probably best I save that one for another time. Point is, I need your help with something and you with your status are the perfect person to aid me…"

Shinji looked down. Even someone in his dreams only needed him because he was an Evangelion pilot, "I… I don't think I'd be the right person… Asuka is a better pilot than me… or even Re-"

"What the living doll or the red-head? No, it has to be you. You misunderstand me though I don't need your help because you're a pilot. I need your help because you're his son."

"His… son?"

Q nodded, "Yes, my grand plan involved your father being taught a valuable lesson about human capability and arrogance. I however need your assistance with it… in exchange I can offer you anything…"

Shinji looked up, "Anything…?"

"Anything, name it… I can even arrange a romantic date with the red-head you care about so much."

Shinji felt himself blush at Q's mentioning of that, "I… I… She probably wouldn't…"

"Want to? I wouldn't be so sure. I think a vacation for the two of you would be a good thing. I can take you to Risa in its peak… or I can take you back or forward to any time on Earth… just name it."

Shinji thought about it for a moment. It did sound nice, but Asuka hated him. She'd never agree to something like that and besides this was a dream, it was a hallucination brought on by exhaustion and the cross-unit test earlier today. It wasn't real. With that in mind he nodded at the man.

"What do I have to do?"

* * *

When Shinji awoke he felt himself feeling very refreshed. The headache was no longer present, the aching in his body wasn't there and there was a strange feeling of calmness. After the bizarre dream involving the man named Q he was surprised. He had expected to wake up covered in sweat and nauseous but instead he felt happy. That was until he made his way into the front room to be met with the glare of Misato.

"You discharged yourself from the hospital."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement and all Shinji could do was lower his eyes in embarrassment.

"Yeah…"

"Do you mind telling me why?"

"I…

"You were in an accident Shinji, you could have been seriously hurt. We had you there for a reason, what the hell did you think you were doing? I was worried sick when I found out you weren't there anymore, the nurses said you just got up and left."

"I…"

Shinji tried to scramble for a reason to give her but all he could do was muster a weak apology, "I'm… sorry…"

"You can't do this Shinji, I kno-"

"It was my fault."

Shinji looked up in shock at the source of the voice and saw Asuka stood in the doorway to her room. Misato shot the German a glance, "Your fault?"

Asuka nodded with her eyes full of defiance. "I phoned him and asked him to come back. I was… having difficulty working the oven here. He could have told me over the phone but I told him it'd be better to do it in person. I was hungry and I didn't want to order anything and…"

"Enough, so you knowing what had happened to him asked him to come all this way back?"

"Yes."

"Shinji is this true?"

Shinji gazed between the two of them. The warmth and happiness he had felt earlier had all but gone. Asuka had lied for him and her facial expression was telling him that if he went against that he'd be in for a lot of pain. On the other hand he hated lying to Misato.

"It's true."

"Very well, Shinji seeing as you're dressed and look well rested can you take the trash downstairs. I want to have a word with Asuka."

Without any further words Shinji grabbed the trashbag and exited the apartment leaving Misato to glare at Asuka.

"You're covering for him."

Asuka gave a laugh, "Why would I cover for him of all people?"

"Because the great Asuka Langley Sohryu wouldn't ask for help from Shinji Ikari to cook an omelette of all things. I'm not stupid. Why are you covering for him?"

"I'm not, that's what happened."

"Asuka, don't make me regret inviting you to live here. I need to know the truth, something serious could have happened to Shinji yesterday and even you can see that. So why are you lying for him."

Asuka gazed towards the door and back to Misato. Her expression dropped, "I guess I felt sorry for the idiot. I had a moment of weakness…"

Misato nodded, "Go on…"

"I heard him come back yesterday… and he made us dinner. I saw how ill he looked Misato so I asked him why he had come back and how."

"What did he say?"

"That he discharged himself. I called him an idiot, I was even tempted to call you take him back but then he…"

Asuka paused for a moment, "He said he hated it there, in the hospital."

"And you were unable to send him back?"

"I told him to go to bed after he was done eating and I said I'd clean up."

Misato's expression softened considerably at hearing Asuka's words. It was so easy to forget just what this girl had gone through in her short life and why Shinji's words about hating hospitals might resonate with her. Misato still wanted to be the stern guardian but that could wait until later.

"Asuka you… I understand but he could have been hurt or more. Next time something like this happens contact me alright. We'll arrange something else, I don't want to see Shinji in the hospital either and I know your feelings about that place."

Asuka lowered her eyes saying nothing, "I… he's an idiot."

"Yes… he is but we'll deal with this later. I have to go to work."

* * *

The day had gone downhill from there for Misato Katsuragi. She stormed into the command centre of NERV immediately barking orders to the technicians.

"Status report, tell me what we know."

"MAGI picked it up a few minutes ago approaching Earth's orbit. Our satellites are transmitting the data now."

"Good put it on screen as soon as we have it."

A few moments later the tactical display changed. Misato fixed her gaze on the object that lay before them. It was a cube, silver to grey in colour but with what looked like an intricate design of pipes or some sort on each surface. It wasn't moving, only slowly rotating on its point in space. To her right Misato could hear Maya relaying information about the object.

"It's huge, MAGI are estimating an internal volume of twenty seven cubic kilometres. That's three kilometres a side. I've never seen anything like this."

"Is it an Angel?"

"MAGI are still debating, what should we do?"

Misato waited a moment for any instruction from behind her. She was aware of the gaze of Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki and Commander Ikari. She looked towards Ritsuko who didn't seem to have anything to say either.

"Have the pilots report to the cages and prepare to launch the Eva's. Don't launch until we know a little bit more, we don't want a repeat of the fifth Angel."

"Aye Captain."

Misato stared up at the object again. It had stopped rotating and instead was just still. Every so often she'd observe a green glow run across one of its sides. She wondered what exactly it could be. As of now she was certain it was an Angel. It bore a lot of the trademarks of one. Appearing suddenly, no communication and an obtuse design. If it was it wouldn't be the first Angel to appear in orbit but it did make finding solutions to fight it difficult.

'Something is wrong here...'

"So what are you going to do Katsuragi?"

She turned to where her friend and colleague was standing and simply shrugged, "I'm still thinking, if it stays in orbit we're a little bit limited. We could always shoot it using the Eva's sniper rifles but something of that size..."

"I'd recommend withholding any attacks until we learn a bit more."

"Agreed."

"Uhh… Misato what's happening?"

"Don't worry Shinji, you three are just going to have to sit tight for a few moments longer while we try to learn a bit more about this thing."

"Sit tight! What do you mean? Let us at them, it's only a big cube! Attack is the best type of defence right?"

"Asuka, remember what happened the last time you took that approach? We don't want to have to spend a week giving you and Shinji dance lessons again."

"Oh right, blame me for that will you! Maybe if he wasn't so clumsy we wouldn't have-"

She was quickly cut off by Shinji interjecting.

"Me! You rushed in that time and besides if you hadn't of..."

"Silence! You three are here to pilot the Eva's and beat the Angels, not to argue over who did what right and make more of a mockery of this organization than you already have done in the past. Follow Captain Katsuragis orders and stay quiet."

They both replied in unison, "Yes sir."

Misato gave an embarrassed smile to Fuyutsuki, it was rare to see the old man interject like that but when he did he could be formidable. It was the man next to him that concerned her though, Commander Ikari rarely interjected.

"Captain the MAGI have some information for us."

"Go on Maya."

"MAGI are 87.324% sure that this object is not an Angel. Sensor scans indicate the lack of any sort of core commonly associated with the Angels we've seen previously. Due to the sheer size of the object we're unable to confirm that hence the 12.676% level of uncertainty coming from MAGI-Melchior. A brief sensor sweep indicates the object is made out of a theoretical alloy known as Tritanium."

"Tritanium? I've never heard of it."

Ritsuko stepped in, "Hence the term theoretical. It's primarily the domain of Science Fiction writers but of course as with most Science Fiction there is some basis in truth."

"So what is it?"

"An alloy that is tougher than diamond."

"Is that possible?"

"Of course the fifth Angel itself was an example of this, we'd be fools to believe that everything in the Universe is confined to our planet. Of course humanity at present lacks the resources to search for or confirm the existence of such a material. After the Second Impact space programs took something of a hit as money was invested in not only getting the world back on its feet but also our little project here."

"So how tough are we talking?"

"Impossible to say really without analysing it and seeing as that thing is up there and we're down here. To date the toughest material we have dealt with would be the fifth Angel but without examining this Tritanium Alloy we can't say anything else."

"I see… what else can the MAGI tell us Maya?"

"Nothing of consequence unfortunately. I'm getting some readings on the interior but they're minimal. Humidity of 92% and a temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius."

"Quite warm then."

"It would seem so Captain."

* * *

Rei sat alone in the silence of her Evangelion's entry plug. She had been listening to the chatter from the Command Centre. Each word that was said made her heart beat a little bit faster in anticipation of the inevitable launch of the Evangelion Unit. She gazed at the small glasses case that she had brought into the Unit. She could feel the soul within the Eva threatening to take over again, it was always like that. One slip from her and it would take over but she knew she wouldn't slip. The Commander had promised he would look out for her and that he would protect her and that was all she needed.

She had the others too. The pilot of Unit 02, Asuka Langley Sohryu. A capable pilot, out of the three of them the most naturally gifted. Yet there was something lurking behind her confidence and arrogance. A pain which Rei could sense, the same pain that inhabited all of the people within NERV.

Then there was the younger Ikari. She felt a bond with the younger Ikari that was hard to explain. Like she had known him all her life, like they were connected in some way beyond just being pilots.

She breathed in and gently exhaled some of the LCL within the Entry Plug. This object that had appeared, they said it wasn't an Angel. She did not sense the same thing from it that she did the other Angels, yet there was something. It was faint but there was a voice.

'No… there are many voices… acting as one.'

* * *

"Umm Captain, something is happening to the Cube."

"Put it on the screen Hyuga."

Misato watched as the display shown the Cube again. On one of the sides she saw it, a small circular hatch opening. She continued to watch as a spherical object made its way out of the hatch and immediately started descending towards Earth. A second later there was a green beam from the Cube and the video feed was stopped instantly.

Almost immediately the sirens in the command centre sounded and the familiar hexagonal emergency logos spring into action.

"MAGI are reporting the satellite has been completely destroyed. The spherical object is on a direct course to Tokyo-3."

"Get it back on screen, I want to track its every movement. Launch the Eva's."

"It's about time, I was starting to get bored down here."

* * *

Shinji felt himself sink back in his seat as his Eva shot up through the access tunnels towards the surface of Tokyo-3. It was a feeling he would never get used to, and not one he needed so shortly after having breakfast. Eventually the Eva came to a forceful stop on the surface, he immediately attached the umbilical power cable, grabbed one of the nearby assault rifles and crouched next to one of the buildings.

In the distance he could see the Red Unit 02 also finish launching. It too attached its power cable and grabbed a weapon. Asuka favouring a longer range scout-like rifle for this operation. Looking around Rei's Unit finally popped into place, like him she grabbed an assault rifle. With the three of them in cover they watched eagerly as the Sphere finished its descent and settled above Tokyo-3s highest building.

Shinji took a few deep breathes as he watched it gently rotate. It was mostly dark-grey with green smoke emanating from sections of its body. It made no noise and didn't seem in any rush to attack. He waited for further orders from Misato.

"Okay kids, this thing in orbit has already destroyed one of our satellites. I'd say that's provocation enough. You're free to engage but be cautious, we don't know what this thing is capable of yet."

Shinji nodded, stepped out of cover and aimed his rifle at the sphere. He watched as the Evangelions aiming systems came to life. The Sphere was dead centre, the two aiming reticules quickly converging letting him know he could fire. He sent a volley forward towards the sphere and watched as his bullets scored a direct hit on the armour. Small explosions could be seen as each bullet collided.

"Direct hit… well done Shinji."

The pride he felt at being congratulated was short lived. The smoke from the rain of fire cleared to reveal the Sphere still floating motionless with no visible signs of damage. Almost immediately he stepped back out of cover and fired another volley. Across the other side of the city he saw Rei doing exactly the same.

Bullets impacted upon the spheres surface creating more smoke and more explosions. He unloaded two rounds into the object before dropping back into cover and watching.

'That has to be it… me and Rei unloaded at least five rounds into it.'

Peeking over the cover his eyes widened. The Sphere was still there, it shown minimal if any sign of damage at all. He stood to unload another clip into it only this time he wouldn't be given the opportunity. He fired a few shots off from the rifle only to see them bounce off of a shield in front of the Sphere.

* * *

Misato watched in shock as the bullets from both Rei and Shinji were no longer hitting the target but bouncing off.

"An A.T. Field?"

Maya shook her head, "The Magi are saying no, they don't know what it is."

"Asuka, what is your status?"

"I'm lining up a shot now, damn rifle took longer to come online than I had hoped. I see Shinji and Rei couldn't get the job done, should have just left it to the professional."

Misato had no time for the girls boasting, "Just get in position and help them out. I want this thing go-"

Misato was cut off in mid-sentence. A green beam had shot out of the Sphere and was now completely enveloping Unit 01.

* * *

Shinji had tried to dodge out of the way of it but it had appeared too quickly. Now it had him caught and he couldn't move.

'Come on… move! Move! MOVE DAMNIT!'

He jerked the controls back and forth willing his Eva to move. Backwards, forwards, sideways in any direction but no matter how hard he tried it just couldn't move. Over the comm he could hear Misato barking orders to her staff and to Asuka.

"Asuka get him free, what the hell is that thing?"

* * *

Asuka nodded and grinned, "Save the invincible Shinji eh? No problem."

With ease she spun the Eva round and backed it out of the city giving her a direct shot at the source of the beam. She crouched next to one of the buildings resting her scout rifle on it and lining up her shot perfectly.

'Eins… Zwei… Drei…'

A shot was released from the rifles chamber. Almost immediately she began the reloading procedure and readied another shot. She had practiced these sort of long range shots plenty of times after reading about Shinji's fight with the fifth Angel. Within seconds another of the high-power shots had been sent towards the Sphere colliding perfectly with the source of the beam and shutting it off instantly.

"You owe me for that Shinji, now… I'll show you how to finish a job."

She sent a third shot towards the Sphere and watched as it collided once more causing a larger explosion than the first. In the distance she could see Rei continuing to send volley after volley of shots from the rifle at the Sphere. Each shot still bouncing off of the shield but hopefully creating enough of a distraction for Asuka to line up her fourth shot.

'And this is for the kill…'

She grinned as she lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger. Everything from that moment seemed to happen in slow motion. The bullet was sent forward, over the buildings, through the skyscrapers and towards the damaged portion of the sphere.

'This…'

Thirty metres.

'Is…'

Twenty metres.

'So…'

At ten metres the bullet was halted by the same shield. She immediately felt the grin drop from her face and her heart rate increase.

'Impossible.'

She immediately lined up a fifth shot only to receive exactly the same results. A sixth shot followed, then a seventh and an eighth. Each one only ricocheting off of the shield that had appeared around the Sphere.

'It's cheating! How unfair…'

"Asuka, I'm giving the order to pull back. Get to the launch pad."

"Like hell am I going to retreat! Shinji, Wondergirl… cover me!"

"Asuka what are you-"

Asuka released the progressive knife from her Eva's shoulder compartment and immediately reached for it. She stood up over looking for the Sphere and quickly scanned the maze of buildings. Almost immediately after standing another green beam was sent out from the Sphere, she had anticipated it and deftly dodged out of the way.

As quickly as she could she began to sprint towards the Sphere, closing the gap between her and it. She weaved in and out of the buildings with ease ensuring any further attempts from the Sphere to ensnare her. When she reached a suitable gap she leapt up into the air using one of the small buildings to springboard her. She tucked in the Eva's legs and arms until she was just over the Sphere and immediately spread out her own Eva's A.T. Field and arms. She gritted her teeth in concentration as she unfolded the Eva and brought the knife down on the Sphere slicing through it like it was paper.

Small explosions from the object rocked the Eva and created a cloud of dust all around her. Slowly she raised her Eva to full height and grinned.

"I told you it'd be easy. I guess we'll call that a win for Asuka."

Misatos face suddenly popped up on the internal video feed. She angrily yelled towards the three of them.

"All three of you retreat now! Asuka… we'll discuss this later but for now, well done."

"Discuss it later? I beat it didn't I, now for the bigger one up th-"

There was a loud burst of static as the video feed from Misato suddenly dropped out. Asuka looked around at the other two Eva's. Shinji and Rei had already retreated to their respective launch pads. Asuka did the same and waited to be pulled back in towards NERV headquarters.

"Asuka!"

"Ah the Third Child, you see Shinji. That is how you defeat something."

"I… Thank you for rescuing me."

"Just doing my job, like I said. You owe me for this though!"

"S-Sure…"

"Pilot's Sohryu and Ikari… I believe we have an issue."

"What is it Wondergirl? Are you feeling an emotion?"

"No… We seem to have lost all communication with NERV Headquarters… and the launch pads are no longer working."

"I fail to see the problem, it just means we…"

Asuka was once again cut off mid-sentence. This time it wasn't silence that followed. It was a voice, distorted and broadcast loudly into their Units.

"We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Lower all defences and surrender yourself. Resistance is Futile."


	2. Resistance

"At eleven hundred hours the object was picked up by our sensors coming into orbit of Earth. We were able to get some readings from it before it sent a smaller craft out of itself down to Tokyo 3. Our satellite was knocked out immediately afterwards."

Maya pressed the button in her hand as the slide on screen changed to show the Sphere floating above Tokyo 3, "Units 00, 01 and 02 were sent to engage the craft. Shinji and Rei worked in pairs taking it in turns to send rounds of assault rifle shells towards the Borg Sphere. Unfortunately this proved to have minimal effect and after a few rounds the Sphere developed the ability to shield itself from our attacks."

The slide changed again to show the green beam that had enveloped Shinji's Eva, "At eleven hundred and fifteen hours the Sphere attacked Unit 01 directly enveloping it in what we can only assume to be kind of tractor beam. It held Unit 01 in place."

Maya gave a sympathetic glance to Shinji who had been seated between Rei and Asuka for this meeting.

"Asuka in Unit 02 then engaged the Sphere using a special long range weapon developed for the Evangelion. This used a higher density charged and was successful in shutting the tractor beam off and freeing Unit 01. Unfortunately Unit 02 was only able to fire a few more shots before the Sphere deployed the same sort of shielding."

"It adapted to our weapons."

Maya looked up at the source of the voice, "Yes Commander, it would seem so. After giving the order for the pilots to retreat Asuka engaged the Sphere using the Eva's progressive knife and was successful in destroying it."

"Against my wishes, of course."

"If I hadn't have done something we wouldn't hav-"

Gendo found it best to step in, "We will deal with Pilot Sohryu's insubordination later. What is important is finding a way to defeat the thing in orbit or sending it away. Dr Akagi, what do we know about it?"

"Very little beyond the basics I'm afraid. We can assume from the transmission that the object is actually a ship of some sort. We do now however know little of these 'Borg' and who they are beyond the fact that they seem to have targeted us."

Misato questioned her, "Could they be after the Eva's?"

"Their transmission made no mention of the Eva's directly but I can only assume that is what they meant when they mentioned our technological distinctiveness. We really don't have a lot to go on. I can get the Magi to run some simulations on possible options. We have a team out to scour the debris of the Sphere as well but I fear we're running on a limited time frame. Perhaps Captain Katsuragi has some suggestions."

Misato stepped forward, "Given its position in orbit we have limited options in terms of engagement. We have prototype sniper rifles in development for the Evangelion Units that we could deploy that should be able to hit the target. Given the size of the Borg Cube and the existence of the adaptive shielding we would have to plan our shots carefully."

Commander Ikari gave his response, "We would have to ensure we were hitting something critical on the target."

Misato nodded, "Yes, and we just don't have any information on its interior design to know where any critical systems may be or even if we can access any. There are too many unknown variables."

"I see, Dr Akagi, Captain Katsuragi do what you can. You are all dismissed."

Gendo and Fuyutsuki watched as the three bridge technicians, Ritsuko and Misato all left the room. They were shortly followed by the three pilots.

"You three, I expect you to follow Captain Katsuragi's orders from now on. Your goal is to defeat threats to this city, not to show off your abilities. We cannot afford to lose one of the Eva's. Am I understood?"

All three of them spoke back in unison, "Yes Sir."

The three filed out looking somewhat more dejected than before. As soon as the door closed Fuyutsuki spoke asking the question that had been on his and Gendo's mind from the start.

"Do you think he had anything to do with this, that 'Q' person from yesterday?"

Gendo smiled, "Most definitely."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We are going to proceed as normal. We will not let this minor obstacle get in our way. If Captain Katsuragi and Ritsuko fail to come up with a suitable plan we still have the Lance. That should make short work of our adversary."

"The Lance of Longinus, but if we were to use that the old men would-"

"The old men of SEELE would see that it was necessary to do so in order to eliminate an obstacle in our path. Let me worry about them. We have more pressing matters."

"Yes you do."

A flash of light and standing before them was Q. Gendo was unmoved by his sudden appearance. Instead he remained stoic with his hands folder in front of him.

"I presume this is your doing."

"Nothing slips by you, you know I broke one of my rules for this. 'Don't provoke the Borg.' But I felt it was necessary in order to teach you something."

"And what would that be?"

"A lesson, in humility, parenting, in expanding your horizons to the possibilities out there. There've been a lot of star systems traversed between then and now. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Fuyutsuki spoke up, "You can get rid of them?"

"Now why would I do that? Especially not on your word, no this is between me and Commander Ikari. I'm going to make him see that his previous Evangelion isn't the answer to his problems."

Gendo stood up, "You will see that we have more at our disposal than the Evangelion Units, we will remove your obstacle. You can be sure of that."

Q simply laughed, "Oh Ikari… this isn't an Angel you're dealing with. This is much worse. If you defeat one they will be replaced, they will come back. Again and again and again, they are relentless."

With another snap of his fingers he was gone.

"Fuyutsuki, inform Rei to retrieve the Lance. Have Unit 01 and 02 deploy in Tokyo 3."

"Yes sir, while I'm at it I'll have someone look at the environmental controls in here. It's suddenly gotten a lot warmer."

"Yes… it has."

* * *

Shinji flinched as Asukas fist hit the wall behind him, "You know your father can be a right di-"

He smiled and glanced down at the floor, "Well Misato did ask us to retreat, and he is the Commander I guess."

"So what you're just going to agree with him? We defeated it didn't we isn't that what matters? If I had retreated we could have lost!"

"I know that… I wasn't agreeing with him. I…"

He thought back to a time he had said similar words. It was when he had fought the second Angel to attack Tokyo 3. Misato had asked him to retreat after he had taken Touji and Kensuke into the Eva. In a moment of madness he hadn't. Deciding to go forward and attack and defeat the Angel head on. In retrospect he could see how stupid it was. He could have died, he could have gotten his schoolmates killed.

"You what? If you have something to say then say it Third!"

"Nothing, I was… I'm glad you did what you did."

"Well I'm glad someone appreciates me hard work."

"Pilots Sohryu and Ikari report to the cages and prepare to launch."

"Guess they want us back up there. Well time to finish this off."

Shinji stood up, "I guess so, I'll just put this back in my locker."

He gestured at the SDAT in his hand, "Yeah yeah, well don't take too long."

"I won't. Hey Asuka…"

He suddenly got an urge to say something to her, he recalled what had happened that morning. When Misato had been on the verge of dressing him down regarding his discharging from the hospital.

"Thank you… for covering for me this morning I mean… you didn't have to do that."

"Don't get used to it, I was feeling generous."

"I won't… thank you."

He turned to go back into the men's changing room, he turned so quickly he couldn't see Asuka's small smile directed his way.

* * *

"Well I have to say, taking down a Borg Sphere with her bare hands. She really is something I can see why you like her. I must say though, your Plugsuits definitely weren't designed with comfort in mind were they? No this won't do."

Shinji stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Q. Q was wearing a Plugsuit, not any existing design. This particular one was black up until the shoulders. From there up it was grey. Around the wrists and around the neck was a red coloration. Q snapped his fingers and the Plugsuit changed to a uniform. Exactly the same design but different material. Shinji had never seen it before. He felt his stomach drop as he watched Q perform these tricks. Shinji had remembered the previous night vividly, but he had convinced himself it was some strange dream conjured up by tiredness and stress. He didn't think it was real.

"Y-Y-You're real?"

"And this is why my other rule is to not involve children. I had a feeling this would happen. Yes I'm real"

"Then y-you…"

"Still need your help? Much as I loathe to rely on humans, yes Shinji. You remember the exact words I told you last night? What you have to do?"

Shinji nodded, "I remember… and then you'll…"

"Anything you want, within reason. I made a promise to a friend in another timeline that I wouldn't alter people's minds so no brainwashing."

In what he thought had been his dream Shinji had already come up with a plan. It was nothing fancy, he wanted to take Asuka away for a few days to somewhere peaceful. Give her the things she had wanted, a place to swim and relax. He wanted to cook meals for her, he wanted to hold her. He thought it had been a dream though and this was reality, she'd never agree to that.

"Y-You think she'll wan-"

"I think you know less about her than you let on Shinji. Now, you've got a Borg Cube to fight."

Shinji paused just before leaving, "Are you responsible for them being here? The Borg?"

He waited for a response but none came. When he turned around Q had vanished. He suddenly felt very uneasy. He had made a promise to the man last night but had known nothing of the consequences. He didn't know this was what was going to happen. He kept on telling himself that he thought it was all a dream so how was he supposed to know otherwise?

* * *

Asuka felt the force pushing her down into her seat as the Eva once again shot up towards Tokyo 3. She always found it so exhilarating being sent hurtling towards the surface in this way, she knew within a few moments that it'd be her chance to shine. Her opportunity to prove to the world who she was, to prove to herself who she was.

On reaching the surface she immediately got into cover behind one of the retractable buildings. Next to her another box popped up out of the ground containing the prototype sniper rifle. She grabbed it and quickly attached the headset to her Eva. Additional data suddenly appeared over her heads up display. In the corner she could see the feed from one of the orbiting satellites of the Borg Cube.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Shinji in Unit 01 also attaching the new combat equipment. She pulled up the video feed and directed a message towards him.

"Well Shinji, I hope you know how to use that thing because I'm going to be gracious and give you first shot. Don't miss it."

"Don't miss! I'll show you, you won't even get the chance to take a shot!"

"Hah, we'll see about that. Good luck Third!"

She turned off the video feed and took a deep breath before finishing her final checks. Within a moment she had the rifle aimed up in the sky and was scanning for the target. True to her word she waited for Shinji to take his shot before even locking onto the target. She smiled at what Shinji had just said when she taunted him. As good as she knew she was she welcomed his words, it gave her a strange sort of comfort to know he would be trying to be competitive with her rather than not caring. She never got that reaction from Rei and it made her nervous. She couldn't figure out Rei, it was as if she didn't care about piloting and herself. She just blindly followed orders without a word otherwise.

Shinji on the other hand, he seemed to care. He'd fight to win, just like she would and he'd even be willing to bend the rules if it meant victory.

'Seems he does have some backbone after all, why can't he be more like that when he isn't in the Eva!'

"Evangelion Unit 02 ready, waiting for Shinji to take his shot."

"Evangelion Unit 01 taking the shot."

Asuka gritted her teeth as she watched the beam shoot out of the rifle up into the sky. Her eyes immediately darted to the video feed of the satellite. Moments later the beam appeared in view and smashed directly into the Borg Cube. There was something of an explosion as parts of the ship flew out in all directions. She smiled and opened the feed to Shinji again.

"Not bad Third, a little bit inelegant but here let me show you how it's done."

She re-positioned her Eva and shifted in her seat and brought the visor down. Again she searched for the target and this time she locked on and started counting down to when to fire.

5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

She squeezed the trigger and a beam was sent up from her own rifle. She lifted the visor and watched the feed from the satellite and held her breath as it too smashed into the side of the cube. She had purposefully targeted the exact same point Shinji had done and watched as more damage was done, tearing a small hole in the side of the Cube.

"Asuka, Shinji, Misato here. Based on what we saw with the Sphere we don't anticipate you'll have many shots left so make each one count… if they manage to adapt Ritsuko is going to try something. We don't know if it'll work but we might be able to change the modulation in your energy shots so we can give you a few more shots. We'll let you know how it goes… hold on…"

Asuka listened carefully as Misato started barking orders to what she could assume was one of the technicians, "…can we get someone to sort out the heat in here. I can barely think it's so hot… what do you mean… lost contact with who?"

Another pause, "When? Why was I not informed? Assemble a security team, I want those people found…"

"Problems Misato?"

"Nothing we can't handle, you two concern yourselves with the Cube in orbit. Just a bit of environmental issues."

"Sounds a bit more serious than-"

"I said don't worry about it, isn't it Shinji's turn now?"

The vid to Misato cut off abruptly as she turned back towards Shinji. Her heart rate increased ever so slightly. She wanted to know what had happened just now, Misato had given that much away.

'Guess we should wrap this up then.'

"You heard her first, we don't have many shots left. You know what to do!"

* * *

It got warmer the closer they got to their destination. Misato had discarded her jacket back by the elevator and had withdrawn her pistol from her shoulder-holster. She was flanked by four members of NERV security. Rounding the corner she could see the store-room. It had been here the mechanic had gone missing after being sent to look for the environmental controls.

She paused and gestured for the others to stop. The double doors into the storeroom were open and the room itself was dark. Every so often she could see a red light flicker. She gestured at two of the security team.

"You two follow me."

Creeping forward slowly she moved into the darkened room. She kept her pistol aimed forward as she entered. She immediately felt the sweat forming on her forehead but resisted the urge to wipe it away. There were two thoughts running through her head as she scanned the room. First was that whatever had happened here this was no longer a storeroom, the second thought was that they were not the only ones in here. There were four others in the room with them. She could see their silhouettes at the far end of the room. Three of them were motionless, standing in some sort of chamber. Above them a circular light with, and a sequence of tubes leading around the figure.

In front these alcoves was another figure moving back and forth between two consoles that had been set up. Misato took a cautious step towards the lone figure. She stopped a few metres short of it and aimed.

"Identify yourself!"

It ignored her and continued to work at the console. As it turned Misato had the opportunity to see the figure for the first time. It was male but unlike any man she had seen before. Its body was clad in some sort of black armour, a series of wires and tubes ran from various sections. On the colour were two lights blinking red and green intermittently.

The head was pure white, it reminded Misato of a corpse. As if this figure had died and come back to life. Various devices were implanted on the skull. One device around its eye with a tube running down into a pack on the figures back. Attached to this device was a red laser that would occasionally scan the area.

As Misato crept closer the figure did not move from its task. It took no notice of her words or her footsteps. It was as if it was completely oblivious to her presence.

She could feel the sweat covering her body a mixture of fear and the stifling heat of the room.

"Stop what you're doing or I'll shoot."

For a moment the figure stopped moving. It turned towards the Misato and the two security personnel. The red laser swept over all three of them and a moment later the figure turned back to the console.

Misato turned to the two members of the security team, "We don't have time for this. Apprehend it."

They nodded, one of them stepped forward towards the figure. They placed a hand on its shoulder to turn it around. Without any warning the figure swept its arm around knocking the guard flying back towards Misato. He landed with a thud on the ground. Misato moved forward but stopped when she realized the figure now had hold of the second member of the team.

One of the figures hands was wrapped around her body, its hand close to her throat. The figures other hand had hold of her arm forcing her to drop the weapon. Misato watched in horror as two thin needle like probes suddenly sprung out of the figures hand into the young guards' neck.

Immediately Misato fired off two shots into the figures skull. It released its grip on the woman who fell to the floor grasping her throat and trying to breathe. Darting forward Misato scooped her up and draped her arm around her as the other figures in the alcoves started to wake from their slumber.

With her free hand she placed a bullet in one of the figures heads and yelled out to the others at the door.

"Cover us, we're leaving. We have injured, we need to get her to Ritsuko!"

* * *

Shinji had never felt this frustrated when piloting the Evangelion before. Yet on his tenth fruitless attempt at piercing the Borg Cubes shield he was definitely beginning to get frustrated. Yet it was all he and Asuka could do. Fire, wait for Ritsuko to alter their frequency and see if that one would get through the Cubes shields. So far their plan wasn't working out as expected.

"This is so unfair, they're not even fighting back! It's like we're being toyed with. Why not come down and fight you cowards!"

* * *

Gendo Ikari was watching the futile battle play out before him. It was just as he had expected, Unit 01 and 02 were unable to get through the shields but they had something that certainly would. All he had to do was wait for Rei to report back and they could deploy their trump card. They just needed to keep playing this game.

In front of him Captain Katsuragi had re-entered the room, a young security officer draped around her should. He listened as she described what had happened down below.

"We found… I don't know what it was, it wasn't human. It got hold of her, and injected her with something. Ritsuko, I need you to take a look."

"Why didn't you take her to the infirmary?"

"No time, I needed you to see this now. Look."

Gendo peered down at what Misato was gesturing towards. The officer in question, her skin had turned a greyish colour. Along the face a number of black veins had appeared. He watched keenly as Ritsuko knelt beside her, withdrew a syringe and withdrew a blood sample from the officer.

"How long ago did it happen?"

"Not long ago, five minutes maybe ten."

"I'll get the MAGI to analyse it immediately. How many were there?"

"Four, but I shot two of them. Then we left."

Ritsuko quickly made her way out of the room. Just in time for Fuyutsuki to whisper in Gendos ear.

"Rei is in position."

"Good."

Gendo stood up, "Prepare to launch Evangelion Unit 00."

* * *

Rei emerged in Tokyo 3 after a short ride through the launch passage. She had the Lance of Longinus gripped firmly in her Eva's hands. On reaching the surface she could see Units 01 and 02 still trading turns in firing their rifles at the Borg Cube.

"Rei, you only have one chance at this. Aim for the hole they've made."

"Yes."

Rei readied her Eva, putting it into the same stance a Javelin thrower would. She blocked out the sounds of her co-pilots voices that were coming over the radio.

"Ayanami! What are you-"

"Oh look, Wondergirl brought a spear to a gun-fight."

Switching the radio off and clearing her mind of any doubt she lurched forward and hurled the Lance of Longinus high into the air towards the Borg Cube. She knew it would hit its target that was never in question. Yet there was still a nervous trepidation within her as she watched the object on the video feed.

Within moments the Lance appeared, still flying with ferocious velocity towards the cube. Towards the exactly spot that had been targeted so often by Asuka and Shinji. For a brief moment the green shielding of the Cube flared up but the Lance pierced it with minimal effort barely even slowing down. A large explosion rocked the side of the Cube as the Lance burrowed its way through the hull like a hot knife through butter. Shards of the Cube flew off in all directions as the Lance continued its journey through the craft. Smaller explosions could be seen emitting from the path it carved through, until it eventually finished its journey coming out of the other side.

The radio chatter picked up again.

"It went all the way through it! What the hell sort of weapon was that! Why weren't we given that?"

"Did we win?"

Rei listened as more radio chatter continued, from NERV Headquarters and from her co-pilots. She however sat in silence, watching the Cube keenly for any sign of movement. For a moment she thought she saw something, a green flash from one of its sides. Then she was suddenly bathed in a green light before everything went dark.

She screamed out as pain suddenly ravaged her skull like a hundred tiny needles being inserted at once. A voice suddenly rang out, it was the same one she had heard when the Borg had announced themselves earlier only this wasn't being broadcast to everything. This was inside her head.

"You are the one designated Rei Ayanami, pilot of Evangelion Unit 00."

"I am. What… do you want…"

"You are different to the rest of your species, your biological profile does not match that of the rest of Species 5618."

"I am… different…"

"You will surrender to us, we will assimilate you and that which you call the Evangelion. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is Futile."

* * *

"REI!"

Gendo yelled out as he watched the scene unfolding before him. Rei had been caught in a similar tractor beam to what Unit 01 had been caught in earlier. Only not they had no possible way of getting her free.

Over the radio he could hear the other two pilots yelling out, "AYANAMI! WAIT, WE'LL HELP."

"Oh great, Wondergirl gets herself caught in a trap and we have to come to the rescue. Hurry up with a frequency that works will you guys!"

"Clocks ticking Gendo, what will you do. They have your precious Rei… they're in your headquarters and none of your weapons are working. I can make this go away… with a click of my fingers it'll all be gone."

Gendo sat back down ignoring the taunts from Q, "No, we still have the Eva's."

'Yui… do what you have to.'

* * *

Shinji and Asuka had long given up on taking turns at shooting at the Cube. Now they were aiming and firing at will trying in some way to dislodge Unit 00 from its grasp. All Shinji could do was fire, again, and again, and again praying that the next shot would break through the shielding.

"This is stupid, we need a different weapon. We need… anything!"

For a moment Q's words popped into his head. His task, but he didn't know what any of it meant. Even if he did he wouldn't have a chance to execute it now, Ayanami needed his help. All he could do was keep on firing.

He turned to see Unit 00 trying to wrestle its way out of the beam but also being slowly lifted off of the ground.

* * *

Rei was fighting against the voices in her head, there were so many of them. The thoughts of hundreds of thousands of people all connected in one singular purpose. With each moment she spent caught up in the tractor beam the more she realized she was being linked directly in with the Borg.

She cried out as an immense pain suddenly flared up in her right cheek. Instinctively lifting a hand to it she felt something hard and metallic there. She fought back the urge to be sick as the realized her face was not as she remembered, she could feel it had warped somehow.

'I'm… changing. I must… I must not let them get the Eva.'

* * *

Asuka glanced over at Unit 00 being lifted off the ground. The day just kept on getting worse and worse for her. With every shot that bounced off of the shield, with every report that there had been no impact and with every metre Rei's Unit was lifted she felt her confidence sink.

'Goddamnit, I won't let this thing beat me. I'll destroy it!'

* * *

"Captain, I'm getting reports from the lower levels… they're… they're reporting more of those things… they're… oh god…"

"What is it Maya?"

"They're being overrun! We're getting reports of Borg in all levels!"

Gendo felt Q's presence behind him still, "Not long left Gendo… time to admit your precious Evangelion isn't quite as strong as you thought."

'Yui… why aren't you protecting us?'

Down below Maya had started shouting again, "Sir we're getting an energy build up in Unit 00! It's Rei she's…."

* * *

It had happened very quickly. Shinji felt numb as he watched the debris fly through the city and the green tractor beam shut itself off. One moment Unit 00 had been there struggling and the very next it was gone. A million and one pieces scattered across the city. It had taken a second for it to happen.

For a moment everything seemed dull, he could hear sounds but his brain wasn't processing anything. There was a darkened haze in front of him and he could feel the bile rising in his throat. He had to get out of the Eva, he couldn't do this anymore. They had lost.

For a moment he could feel a presence within his Eva, a warmth covering him. He had felt it before during that first battle when he had passed out. Only he wasn't going to pass out this time. Once again he thought about his task. The more he thought about it the more ridiculous it seemed, he could do what had been asked but would it even work.

'Ayanami… she's gone… NERV has been overrun… me and Asuka are losing… there is nothing I can do…'

He stumbled back as a blast was sent down to Tokyo 3 from the Cube. It smashed into one of the buildings and all Shinji could do was watch as Asuka swiftly got her Evangelion out of the way. He watched as this pattern continued, a blast, a building being destroyed and her dodging before returning fire.

He popped open the audio feed in his Eva, "I… need to… I need to speak to my father… privately…"

He waited a moment before a voice came through, "What is it Shinji?"

"Father… she… Ayanami is gone."

There was a pause, "…I am aware of that, is that all? You're supposed to be fighting not bothering me wi-"

Shinji blocked out the angry tone coming from his father and instead focused on what Q had told him the night before.

"She won't help you, she can't help you. This isn't her fight father, she isn't able to fight this! She knows it, all you're going to do is doom us all. If she emerges they'll sense it and they'll just take her."

There was another pause, "I see… very well."

"Father! Listen to me! We'll die if this continues! End it!"

"Enough! I don't have time to deal with this."

The feed cut off abruptly and Shinji was left in silence, "You bastard! Asuka was right you are a di-"

"Shinji! What are you doing idiot, we need to beat this thing."

He hung his head down and fought back a tear, "He… didn't listen to me, he can end this Asuka… he can end it and he didn't listen to me!"

"Shinji… that doesn't matter. We'll… I'll deal with him when this is over for you but for now we have to fight!"

Shinji raised his head up towards Asuka. She was right, his father wasn't going to listen there was only one thing he could do. He had to fight, to protect everyone. "Right!"

* * *

"Tell me some good news Ritsuko. Please!"

"The MAGI ran their analysis… her body, it's being taken over. Whatever they injected her with its transforming her from the inside. Her red-blood cells aren't human anymore Misato. We… we're in above our heads here."

"Is there anything you can do?"

Ritsuko shook her head and pulled out a cigarette from her pocket. Misato noticed her hand was shaking. She had never seen Ritsuko in this state before, she was usually so calm and collected but this was unlike anything any of them had been through before.

"This is the end isn't it? It wasn't an Angel that got us… it was something else. Some alien race who decimated us in less than an hour."

"There might be a miracle left for us yet…"

"Relying on miracles huh? Doesn't sound like you Ritsuko."

"It's the optimistic side of me coming out."

* * *

Shinji brought the visor down in his cockpit again and raised the rifle. Before he could get a chance to fire off another shot another tractor beam came down, this time managing to envelop Asuka. Almost immediately her voice came over the radio, "Scheisse! Scheisse! Not this way, no, no, no, I won't be beaten damnit!"

"Asuka!"

Without giving it a second thought he dropped the rifle and swung straight towards Asuka. Shinji brought the Evas should down and tackled Unit 02 out of the field to the ground.

"Shinji you…"

Her video feed popped up in his view, at first he thought she was going to berate him but her expression softened.

"…thank you."

* * *

"Ikari we have to end this…"

"No, we still have Unit 01."

"No Ikari, we don't have Unit 01. She isn't awakening, we're losing NERV, Tokyo 3 is being decimated. We are done, it's over Ikari. They'll take us all."

"We…"

"He's right Gendo… all you have to do is ask. Did you not listen to your son, he told you the truth. She isn't going to help you. They will take your Evangelions. They will deconstruct them and assimilate them and then you'll be handing them a brand new weapon. You've seen how powerful they are Gendo, imagine if they had the power of the Evangelion. Imagine what they'll do when they find out about Lillith."

* * *

Asuka looked past the shoulder of Unit 01 and suddenly felt conflicted. She couldn't help but feel that this was the end and she hated it. She didn't want to die yet if she was going to she was going to go out fighting and in a strange way the idea of fighting alongside Shinji didn't seem so bad. At least she wouldn't be alone when the time comes. She had been so sure of her opinion of Shinji last night, that she hated him and that he did nothing but annoy her. He and the First Child were just obstacles for her to be better than.

It has always been a cover though, she had at first found him intriguing. The Third Child who saved the city of Tokyo-3 in his first outing in an Evangelion. At first she had been firmly unimpressed by the wimpy kid who stood before her on the Over the Rainbow. He had been nervous and shy and barely said anything. She had to admit he had been cute but it wasn't until she learned more about him and saw him fight that she started to have feelings. Ones she supressed, she hated the idea of being attached to him. She was so sure it'd just end in her being hurt or betrayed. Yet there was no time anymore for her to be betrayed, this would be over soon.

"Hey Shinji…"

"Yes…"

"I… I'm glad we spent time together, I… wish we could have…"

'Urgh I'm not very good at this…'

"I wish we could have gotten to know each other more… Argh damnit… I like you!"

"I…"

The feed went silent for a time before his voice returned, "I like you too… we'll get through this Asuka!"

Asuka smiled, 'Liar'

It was the last thing she remembered saying before the tractor beam enveloped them both and everything went black. Almost immediately pain shot through her head, she screamed out as the voice of the Borg was heard all around her.

"You will be assimilated, you will become one with us. Defeat is inevitable, resistance is futile."

* * *

Gendo stared blankly at the screen as Fuyutsuki confirmed the image, "Ikari… they have Unit 01 and 02. It's over."

Gendo scrambled in his mind for any other options. None were coming to him. All of NERV's resources had been exhausted, he had lost the Lance of Longinus, he had lost the Eva's and he had lost Rei. Reports of Borg were coming in on all levels of NERV headquarters. He looked over at Q, defeated there was only one thing to do.

"End this… send them away."

"I'm sorry Gendo, I don't think I heard that."

"Send them away, you were right… the Eva's can't protect us against this. They're too strong."

"As you wish."

Q snapped his fingers and almost immediately the Cube vanished from the view screen. The tractor beam around Units 01 and 02 vanished and the two Units fell to the floor on top of each other. Gendo breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the report coming through the various communications feeds.

"They're gone!"

"No sign of them, all traces gone…"

"What happened to them? Have we won?"

Gendo switched the feed off and fixed his gaze on Q.

"This is over?"

Q nodded slowly, "Yes, I must admit I expected a little bit more from you. Picard was much more… poetic about it all."

"And the people they took?"

"I've done you a favour Gendo and returned them. They will remember nothing of their time as Borg. I've even done you a service and repaired Unit 00 and transferred Rei to a medical ward."

"Thank you."

"Why did you not listen to your son when he spoke to you?"

"I… didn't want to believe him. I thought she would protect us but it was true wasn't it. Even with all that power she could do nothing."

"Yet now you see the truth of it all, you see the type of fate that awaits humanity should you continue down the path you're on. The Borg won't vanish, they're out there Gendo. All you're going to do is serve up godhood to them on a silver platter if you continue on this path."

"They're powerful, how do we even fight something like that?"

"I wouldn't concern yourselves with that right now, humanity still has some way to go before it even approaches Borg territory. They live in a world far far away from here. Instead focus on the other possibilities, what you have seen today is one of the nastiest and most ruthless races out there but there is so much beauty to be found there as well. Take my words and warnings as you wish from here on out but your way, or the path of SEELE will deprive humanity of the opportunity to truly move forward."

Fuyutsuki stepped forward, "Your actions nearly cost us our home. It killed one of our pilots, it nearly destroyed our base. Couldn't there have been an easier way? Don't you think this was a bit drastic?"

Gendo raised a hand to silence the former professor, "No more so than what we planned to do. I have a question, why come to us? Why try to help us? You're an omnipotent being, so why the interest in us?"

"As I said before, I owed a friend a favour and seeing as he wouldn't let me pay my debt in that fashion I had to… improvise. Now if you'll excuse me, I made a promise to someone else."

"Wait…"

Gendo sat back down and folded his hands in front of his face, "You… this isn't the last time we'll see you is it?"

"The Continuum is always watching Ikari. Humanity is on trial, there is much in store for your species. So much potential, we await your future greatly."

With a snap of his fingers he was gone.

* * *

Shinji sat in the empty locker room still in his plugsuit. He had his head tilted back against the locker and he hadn't moved for a good ten minutes. For a moment in the Evangelion he had felt it, hundreds of thousands of voices all at once. All united in a single purpose and he had been a part of it. They had invaded his mind, he had even began to feel his body change. Had Ayanami been through the same thing before she had died, had Asuka felt it too?

He thought about what Asuka had said to him before it had happened. She had not said a word to him on their ride back down into the Geofront and into NERV. It had been fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence while she glared at him and kept her distance. She had said it out of panic, out of fear because she was going to die. He was certain of it and yet he had believed it at the time. He knew that there was no way someone like her could like him. She had just used him as a way to give herself some comfort, to get a response from him before she was taken.

He suddenly stood up and slammed his fist directly into one of the lockers. For a moment he was so angry. With Asuka, with his father, with himself and with the entity known as Q. Q had done this, all of this and for what purpose? A sick game to get at Shinji's father, and he had used Shinji as a pawn in all of it. Played on Shinji's feelings for Asuka to make sure Shinji did as he wished. Even that had come to nothing, he had no idea what Q's words had meant and even when he did speak them his father had done nothing.

He reached back and slammed his fist into the locker again and again. He felt tears burning in his eyes. He felt so stupid, Asuka was right he was an idiot.

"Damn everything! All of them, just used me."

"I wouldn't advise doing that, human hands are quite fragile. I should know, was human once for a brief period of time. An El-Aurian stabbed me with a fork, not one of my finest hours I'll admit."

Shinji spun around and spat out the words angrily, "You! All of that… everything was you!"

"Yes… it was."

"Why?"

"I had my reasons, reasons you can't understand yet nor can I tell you but one day you will understand. It was a lesson your father had to learn."

"But… of those people… me… Asuka! You used us all, wasn't there another way?"

"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to make progress. If you're going to fight you have to be willing to take a bit of a bloody nose from time to time. Besides I fixed all of that, the damage is now merely cosmetic. The deaths, never happened and your friend Ayanami as right as rain. Now… about that thing I promised you… what would you like?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh don't be like that, you and the red-head. You heard her there, she likes you. Think about it Shinji, you have the possibility of the entire universe. I can make it happen. You kept your word."

"Yeah well it didn't work, he didn't take any notice of me."

"Admittedly an oversight on my part. I don't make many mistakes and that was one. Look Shinji, I usually have rules about the people I deal with when it comes to what I do. I generally don't deal with people considered a child on their planet. You are a special case which is why I made the offer I did. If you truly desire nothing I will leave but I'm going to urge you to reconsider. There is a reason for what I did, in time you'll understand it but it isn't for me to tell you why. That is for your father to tell you. So one more opportunity…"

Shinji sat back down and was half tempted to yell nothing at Q but then something inside him reconsidered. He considered what he had thought about last night. In the face of it all that seemed childlike and selfish, especially after what he had just witnessed. If he asked for that it would just be him running away temporarily and then he'd have to return to this, to the pain and suffering. For a moment he was tempted to run away from all of this, to ask Q to take him to that other place. With those people he mentioned but then he'd probably only regret it later.

He thought about Asuka, she girl he was falling for. What would she want? Would she want anything? He knew there was more to her than she was letting him know. He had heard her during the sync training, calling for her mother as she slept. He had seen her sleepwalking and saw the tears in her eyes. Maybe he could ask to find out the secret behind her pain and try to help her.

'No… that wouldn't be fair to her.'

His mind looped back round to that original idea. The two of them on their own, he could cook for her. He knew she liked that and somewhere for her to swim. She hadn't had the opportunity when the School went away because they had to remain at NERV.

'That wouldn't work… she wouldn't want to spend time with me… but yet… she said she liked me.'

His mind fast forwarded a few minutes, 'And then she glared at me afterwards and didn't say a word to me, she just said that to make herself feel better…but what if…'

"Fine… I know what I want…"

Shinji stepped forward and gave Q his request.

* * *

She hadn't quite believed it at first when Shinji had come to her and told her the story about Q. In fact she hadn't believed it at all. She had actually yelled at Shinji, called him an idiot and stormed out of the room. That was until she ended up walking out of the room back into the exact same room and the entity known as Q stepped forward towards her. At that point she still hadn't believed it, it was a strange hallucination brought on by stress experienced in combat against the Borg. Any moment now she'd wake up in a hospital bed and Misato and the idiot would be there.

She had of course wondered why Shinji was in her dream, she had tried to force him out of her mind. She couldn't have faced him then, not after she had told him she liked him. He wasn't supposed to know that but the words had slipped out.

'It was something I had said in the heat of the moment, I thought I was going to die and I thought he was going to die. We both needed something to go out on a high with!'

Except she hadn't died, they had both survived and she was beginning to realize the truth of the statement. She hadn't said it for comfort, she had said it because she thought it was the last chance she would have to confess her feelings to him.

That was why she blocked out most of what he said when he had explained about Q and why she had shoved past him and tried to flee the room. Only to keep on entering the same room over and over until she realized the futility of the situation.

Now however she looked up at the twin Suns of the planet from within their domed complex. She felt the warm water around her as she leaned back and relaxed and smelled the foot Shinji was cooking from within the kitchen and she definitely believed it. Between the two of them they had managed to explain what had happened. This being known as Q was a part of the Q Continuum, a race of ascended beings with near Godlike powers. Q had travelled here with an interest in the activities of NERV and Shinji's father and had concocted some sort of plan to teach Shinji's father a lesson. A plan which had nearly resulted in the total destruction of Earth.

As payment for his taking part in the plan he had offered Shinji the chance to travel to anywhere in the Universe for a period of time. Shinji being Shinji couldn't make a decision on what he wanted to do. So he had passed the opportunity over to Asuka. A present from him for covering for him the previous night.

So now they were both here alone on some distant planet for what she saw as a well-earned vacation. The best thing about it was that when they returned it would appear to the others like they had been gone for no time at all.

She climbed out of the pool and wrapped a towel around herself before entering the kitchen of their holiday home. Almost immediately her nose was filled with the smells of Shinji's cooking. She snuck behind him and wrapped one arm around his waist and placed her head on his shoulder peering at the contents of the pan.

"Is it ready yet Third? I'm hungry!"

"Just a little bit longer… you know I still don't feel right about this… I mean the others they fought too."

"Don't be stupid, we fight all the time. We deserve a bit of break don't we! You should consider yourself fortunate you get to spend an entire two weeks with me, all alone. Most of the perverts from your school could only dream of such a thing."

Shinjis head lowered, he remembered what they had both said in the final moments of the battle. Neither had brought it up since, neither probably would. Asuka had pretty much returned to her old self, giving him orders and calling him an idiot. Asuka however had noticed his drop in demeanour. She pulled him a little bit closer towards her.

"Can't you at least pretend to enjoy this? Without feeling guilty."

"I… just think of them there. If I hadn't said I'd help him maybe that wouldn't have happened. Even when I tried to my father did-"

"Your father is a dick, as I said before. Besides Q was already going to do what he did regardless of your actions, he just decided to sweeten the deal. So enjoy yourself, we don't need to feel guilty and they won't even notice we're gone. I picked this for you as well you know."

"F-For me?"

"Well yes, what did you think you were here just to cook for me? I could have had a robot butler if I wanted if I had wanted that. Q mentioned he knew a good chef… a Talaxian or something like that but I wanted you here."

Shinji finally looked up as he felt her grip tighten on him some more. He felt her turn her head and whisper in his ear.

"Shinji… back in the fight… I said something to you. Can you remember what it was?"

She felt him nod so she whispered to him, "I… I meant it."

"R-Really? I thought you just..."

"No, I wouldn't just say something like that just for the sake of saying it you idiot. I really meant it."

"I... meant what I said too..."

For a time they stood there enjoying the embrace as Shinji thought to himself that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to enjoy this gift after all.


End file.
